New Member Seeking Information On My Uncle, Brownie Betar

[gbetar01]

Hi everyone,

My name is Joe Betar and Brownie Betar was my Great Uncle. My Brownie story is a little sad: One day I was doing random Google searches on my last name and came across a photo of a man standing next to a chromed Indian 841. I immediately noticed the strong family resemblance and called my Father and asked him if he had ever heard of Brownie. His response was, "Yeah, that's my Uncle. He was a pretty good guy. He had something to do with motorcycles. Indian's I think." As a lifelong motorcycle owner/rider, I was dismayed that my Dad had never bothered to mention his very famous Uncle to me. Unfortunately, Brownie passed away before I got a chance to meet him and all his stuff has been scattered to the four corners of the globe.

Discovering Brownie led me to begin a search for any information I could find on him in the hopes that I could perhaps write a book on him someday. I have created a website to provide access to what I find, and I would greatly appreciate any help from the membership of the club in learning more about him. I am especially interested in photos, stories, and information on the location of his bikes. Many thanks to Tim Miller who now owns Brownie's chrome 841 for sharing photos of the bike with me.

Thanks,

Joe Betar

[T. Cotten]

Joe!

http://virtualindian.org/ has a biography: http://virtualindian.org/2biobrownie.htm

Its probably too late for a T-shirt: http://virtualindian.org/4newsts.htm

Although the VI webmagazine is stalled indefinitely, the mailing list that spawned it is very active: http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/VirtualIndian/info.

.....Cotten

[c.o.]

Welcome to the club Joe! A very sad story indeed. A quick search found your website ... http://browniebetar.com/ Best of luck on your endeavor. I know I have an article or two on your uncle somewhere in my stuff. When I stumble across them I will pass them your way.

[DDA1941]

Brownie Betar Info

12/17/2013

I have a motorcycle magazine db with some 3,000 mc mag.s indexed into a computer. I also have built a riders db of racing info, a db of engine serial numbers and AMA rider no.s I can provide a listing of HillClimbs that will point you in the direction to find out about Brownie's Hill Climb activities.

I can give you a listing of mc mag. references to Brownie Betar, his AMA No, His AMA rating. etc
If interested:
I am,
Richard Lee Lyons
Motorcycle Period Info Spec., Author, Restorer

CDA1941@aol.com
727-784-8517

[servicardenise]

I have a similar story and request, my older brother lived in Kenner, LA and I always wanted to talk to his friends. The experiences and life on the bayou may have been fun. I know he sank a boat after he loaded a bike on it to go to a run/party. His name was Daniel P. Rich and from what I know his demise occurred on a Triumph. I also believe that the friends he hung around with were known as River Rats. I sure would be tickled to hear a morsel of information. It looks like a quest.
Denise